In the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, men and women speak admiringly of Ahmadinejad as a true leader of the Shiite cause and brand Mousavi “Iran’s March 14 candidate.”
But for those who see Iran as meddling in Lebanon’s affairs, the turmoil in Tehran brings a certain satisfaction.
“Now the Iranians are arranging their own house, so perhaps we can expect a little less interference in ours,” said Sawssan Abou Zahr, a journalist with An Nahar newspaper.
IRAQ
Iran’s near neighbor and former arch-foe has remained largely silent in the wake of the post-election revolt.
The Iraqi street is paying little heed to the contested result and national leaders have passed only cursory congratulations to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the tumultuous days since.
Lawmakers from the Shiite parties have mostly refused public comment to Iraqi media. Many maintain close links to establishment figures in Tehran and some owe their careers to the patronage of Shiite Islamic clerics and supporters.
However, with elections just over six months away, Iraqi MPs are keen to distance themselves from the perception of foreign sponsorship and to concentrate on shaping a sovereign state.
On the streets, people were ambivalent.
“This is the Middle East,” said a woman from Baghdad. “Wars and revolutions happen all the time.”
GULF STATES
In Saudi Arabia, Iran’s main Arab adversary and leader of the conservative US-backed camp, the government has made no public comment. But there are signs of concern about the effect of the unrest on the Shiite majority in the kingdom’s oil-producing eastern provinces.
“The Saudis are watching this upheaval and internal divisions with satisfaction,” said political analyst Mai Yamani. “It weakens the aggressive ambitions of Iran as they see it. It also damages the prospects for talks between the [US President Barack] Obama administration and Iran, which they feel would be at Saudi expense if they succeeded.”
The United Arab Emirates, which has a long-running dispute with Iran over three tiny Gulf islands, congratulated Ahmadinejad. Dubai, home to a large Iranian expatriate community, banned election-related protests.
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